Indegrow Enterprises began topping and hedging almost a decade ago. When we started, we could have never imagined the wide variety of commodities we would eventually work with. Our limited experience at that point was some hedging done on an old block of almonds on the family farm in Madera. That field started to gradually decline in production. The thinking of that time was, “You need big trees for a big crop,” which meant they were very entangled, hard to shake and devoid of sunlight to allow for the nuts to finish off. Once the family decided to open the orchards up with some hedging new growth came immediately, the tree shook a bit easier with fewer mummies and production started to go back to historic levels. That certainly drew my attention to what hedging and topping could do.
Since then, when we work with a grower our first thought is always, “What would I do if this was my orchard?” Sometimes that means lowering citrus trees to the point where pickers only need a 10-foot ladder instead of a 12-foot ladder to harvest fruit. Perhaps it’s providing an “A-cut” for narrow planted pomegranates to allow for better maturity. Recently we’ve discovered that we can “V-hedge” the interior of trellised stone fruit, allowing for better ripening and more efficient machine harvesting. In pistachios, we have started to perform various angles of topping to better shape trees, “nipping the whips” and allowing for better capture of crop. Naturally, there’s the almonds which are near and dear to our hearts!
It’s really been a joy learning something from each of you, the growers we work with. Labor is paramount in all our minds, as is tree structure of our young trees. We often work hand in hand with pruning crews to make the preliminary cuts in young orchards that allow crews to then move through and more thoroughly and efficiently complete structural pruning and training. Especially in the newer varieties like Shasta, early topping seems essential. We also understand orchards that are at their end-life. We might decide with the grower to not pierce a canopy of an older orchard that is going to be removed in the next few years. We have worked with our growers to provide different, creative ways to maximize orchard life while ensuring the safety of employees and equipment.
High-cost labor and low commodity prices will continue to be a challenge for all of us involved in agriculture. We believe that we provide valuable, creative, and quality services to our growers and we appreciate the learning opportunities we have had. We are incredibly grateful to you, our customers, who we’ve had the pleasure to work with. We look forward to more opportunities to work with both existing and new customers, as we all find new and innovative ways to meet the current challenges of modern agriculture.
Please call us to start discussing the needs of your orchard. Planning starts now to maximize benefits for your future production and ensure timely service. We are profoundly grateful to you, our clients, and look forward to hearing from you soon.
To contact Indegrow Enterprises for your orchard topping & hedging needs, please call 559-977-4311
